CG, thanks for posting this.  You are absolutely right about SKYPE and we love it too.  Bob's sister lives in Rio and we talk to her all the time FREE on SKYPE.

Good post!

Steel

My husband uses it sometimes but with the satellite there's a bit of delay involved but he uses it with other guys that he knows that also use SKYPE.

I wanted to share my experiences with Skype.

I use a Mac and have a partition that has Windows loaded. 

My wife and I were in Walmart a while ago and found a Skype USB phone.  We had never done VOIP before.  It was $ 29 so we decided to give it a shot.

I installed the software on the Mac.  Then, we needed to go to skype.com to activate the service.  We chose the $ 29 per year outgoing only service.  The last thing we wanted was to get solicitor calls on the pc.  We were unable to use the USB phone.  But, we were able to use the microphone and speakers on the pc.  But, there was a terrible echo.

So, I installed the software on the Windows partition.  There is an additional piece for Windows called "Skype Mate".  That application knows what to do when the USB phone is connected.  Well, both the phone and the pc microphone and speakers worked great for calls.  I still had some trouble using the features of the phone (speakerphone, dialing, etc).  But, dialing fromt the keyboard worked great.

I wrote an email to Skype tech support (no phone contact is provided with Skype).  They replied and told me about a new beta release for the Mac.  They are constantly improving the software for Skype.  I downloaded and installed the update and Voile, the echo was gone.  Also, in subsequent updates, I can now use the USB phone too.

The quality on the receiving end rivals regular phone service.  That's great, because, sometimes I work from the RV and need good phone service.

Bottom line is that we think Skype is worth the cost.

This is great guys! I am just now at the end of my current cell phone contract and don't use it enough to justify the expense.  I do need to be accessible however, for work reasons. Kevinpvb., do you know why the phone doesn't work ie. weak signal, program etc. If this system could work for me it would (as you guys know) greatly reduce my expenses, and keep me accessible too. If that wasn't enough the campground has free wi-fi.  One of my co-workers in data says he calls his family in Bulgaria for four cents a connection but talks for an hour at no additional cost. What next?

-- Edited by bago40 at 12:43, 2007-07-03

Hi Mr. 40:

Actually, when I got the software update from Skype, the phone started working in both Mac and Windows.  Life is good in Skype-land.

I guess i forgot to add that to the original post.

Sorry 'bout that.

Great! and no need to apologize, I'm just glad folks like you are here sharing what you've experienced, that's what makes this site what it has become -the RV - dreams family experience!  Thanks, again!